Tank



R. CAUDRON.

TANK.

APPLlcMloN men Auw. 191B.

1,367,460. Patented Feb. 1,1921.

UllillTED STATES REN CAUDRON, OF SSY-LES-MOULINEAUX, FRANCE.

TANK.

Application led August 9, 1918.

To @ZZ 107mm t may concern.:

lle it known that l, REN Cannnommanufacturer, citizen of the .FrenchRepublic, residinp at lssy-les-Moulineaux, Bepartment oit Seine, France, have invented certain new and useful improvements in Tanks, oitwhich the following is a specification.

ilhis invention relates to tanks or resetM voirs, particularly tor useon aeroplanes and airships, in which air or other tluid under pressureis employed to exercise pressure on the contents oitI the reservoir, tieobject beinp; to provide means whereby in the event ot the tank becomingpierced it can still continue in use.

According to this invention the reservoir is divided into several closedcompartments, each provided with an inlet conduit for pressure iiud andan outlet conduit 'for the contents oit the reservoir, say petrol, withsuitable means for preventingr automatically, when one of thecompartments is pierced, the pressure fluid from continuing to exerciseits action in that compartment.

The invention further includes certain other arrangements which will bemore par ticularly referred to in the following description.

An embodiment ot the invention will now be described with reference tothe accompanying drawing, which is given merely by way ot example.

liigure l shows a sectional. view ot an arrangement according to theinvention.

Fig. 2 is section, on an enlarged scale, olf the compressed airdistributor to the compartmented reservoir.

The reservoir, in this case, constitutes the petrol tank for anaeroplane engine, trom which petrol is fed under pressure to the engine.

llhe reservoir is divided into a number, tor example, three closedcompartments al, a, a3, each ot which, on the one hand, is connected bya conduit b1, b2 or if respectively,

with a common distributer c, the conduits b1, b2, 3 communicating withthe upper parts ot the compartments ai, e2, a3. The distributor c is, inturn, in communication with a source ot fluid under pressure, forinstance, by a pipe l with a pump. From the lower parts of thecompartments al, a2, a3 extend pipes el, e2, e3 respectively, whichenter the lower part ot a common collector Specification of LettersPatent.

Patented Feb. 1, 1921.

serial No. 249,214. r

.with its carburetor.

The interior of the distributor c is providedwith suitable means forclosing,` the conduits 61, Z22 orbs, corresponding respectively to thecompartments all, a2, a3 as soon as the pressure in either of saidconfipart-` ments is reduced to a determined extent.

rlhese means, as shown, may-consist ot valves arranged in such mannerthat they only become seated and close the conduits b1, b2, b3 when theditlerence between the pressures on their two faces is raised above acertain value. Preferably the conduits 1, b2, b3 open into thedistributer with their ends directed downward, these ends being formedinto or provided with a kind of chamber it, the bottom or which isprovided with a suitable hole it in which is arrangeda valve of suchshape and weight that as long as the dilerence between the pressuresexistingin the distributer and inthe respective com pertinents al, a2,a3 does not exceed a given value, it will rise slightly, under theaction or" the air entering,` under pressure into the distributer c andentering the orifice 71.0, leaving between itself and the wall o1 thechamber it an annular space by which the air under pressure can enterthe corresponding-l conduit l, 62 or 3 and thus enter the correspondingcompartment al, a2 or a3 but as soon as the dil'erence between thepres--I sure existing in the distributer c and in the correspondingcompartment al, a2 or a3 eX- ceedsva given value, it will be forced bythe air pressure, against the lower end of the corresponding' conduitb1, b2 or Z13 and thus close that conduit. i

On the other hand, inlrnown manner, in the interior of the collector fare arranged suitable means for closing the conduits el, e2 or e3corresponding respectively to the compartments al, a2, 0,3 as soon asthe pressure in the said compartments sinks to a certain degree, suchmeans being more or less similar to those employed in the distributer c,with the difference that the pipes el, c2, c3 are arranged so that theirfree ends are directed upward in the collector f. The valves thus have atendency, due to their weight, to seat themselves onv the ends of the.pipes and to maintain them closed as long. as the pressure in thecompartment corre-f sponding to the pipe is lower than the pressure inthe collector.

Hence assuming that the different compartments al, a2, @tare chargedwith petrol to the same level, leaving a sutcient air space in theirupper parts, and have hcrmetically closed, and that the en e is started,the air forced by the pump into the distributor c, through the pipe d,will raise the valve i slightly, will pass around it and enter thecompartments al, a2, d3 by way of the conduits b1, b2, 3 inapproximately equal quantities. rllhe petrol will thus be toi-ced out,in substantially equal quantities, into the collector f, and thence tothe carbureter.

However, it either ot the compartments starts leaking quickly, forexample, it pierced by a bullet making a hole y' in its wall, the petrolwill commence to escape fromthe compartment, and it this escape takesplace lsutliciently vslowly so that the compressed air cannot escapethrough the hole j, the air pump will maintain the pressure in the othercompartments which will continue to feed the collector and carbureter,

. and it will be only when the compressed air can escape through thehole j that, owing to the pressure falling sharply in the compartmental, such a difference ot pressure will be produced between the-two:taces of the .valve i that the valve will be seated, under the pressureof the air 1n the distributor c,

y longer exists.

against the end of the conduit 51, corre sponding to the compartment al,and the air under pressure will then only pass into the compartments a2vand a3.

This action is further assisted by the fact that the air under pressurein the uninjured compartments tends, at this moment, to eX- pand in thecompartment where pressure no At the same time, in the collector f, theend of the conduit el corresponding to the compartment al will be closedby its valve, the pressure in the compartment al becoming` too weak tokeep the valve raised, and only the intact compartments will continue tofeed the carburetor.

If one or more ot the distributer valves close owing to a cause otherthan that of escape of fuel, the corresponding collector valves wouldact simultaneously, but the pressure ot air which would. leak in gradually, owing to the fitting, oi" the valves never being completelytight, would, in due course, reestablish the equilibrium in thecompartments and distributors.

T he walls oir the distributor and collector are preferably made ol'material suiiiciently strong so as not to be penetrated by shrapnelbullets or splinters.

Vilhile the apparatus will act satisfactorily ifconstructed asdescribed, it is desirable to prevent the compressed air from enteringthe distributer c 1n yerks caused by each stroke of the pump, whichmight produce, in

been-V the distributer, such escape of compressed air as to produce aclosing of the valves z'. To this end in the interior ot the distributorc, a chamber all is arranged provided with bali-les or passages wherebyvariations in pressure in air as it is forced in through the pipe Z willbe neutralized or destroyed.

For example, the chamber Z1 may be pro-V Preferably, to assist theworking` of the A valves e', a small aperture, or aaertures, 7i is madein the wall of the chamber 7L level with the top or@ the valve wnen thelatter rests on the bottom et the chamber '71 this orilice being' suchas to permit without ing the valve, the normal entry oit com presse-dair into the chamber, as long as the difference ot pressure on the twofaces ot the valve is not sutiicient to eiliect the raising of thevalve.

lt will be evident that the invention is not limited to the particularconstruction described, which may be varied in various manners.

Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my saidinvention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare'that what l claim is l. A tank or reservoir, particularly for use onaeroplanes and airships, divided into a number of closed compartments,each provided with an inlet conduit for iluid under pressure, and anoutlet conduit for its liquid contents, and having` means *forautomatically preventing, when one compartment is pierced, thecompressed duid from continuing to exercise its action in said compartument.

2. A tank or reservoir as set -forth in claiming clause l having adistributer con nected, on the one hand, with each of the compartmentsby conduits opening into the upper part of their respectivecompartments, and on the other hand, with a source or supply o'fcompressed lfluid, such as air, means being provided in the distributorfor autoA matically closing any of the conduits when the pressure in itscompartment sinks to a determined extent.

3. A tank or reservoir as set forth in claiming,- clause l, in which theconduits connect ing their respective compartments with thedistributerhave their open ends in the latter directed downward, said ends beingprovided with valves so arranged that they only become seated when thedifference ot' pressure on their two faces rises above a determinedvalue.

4. A tank or reservoir particularly for use on airplanes and airshipsdivided into a number of closed compartments each provided with an inletconduit for fluid under pressure and an outlet conduit for its liquidcontents, and a distributor connected with eacli oi said compartments bysaid inlet con duits7 said distributer being' also connected with asource of compressed fluid, said inlet conduits terminating in saiddistributor in a chamber having` an openingl in its bottom for a liiftvalve and an aperture through the side Wall of said chamber.

5. tanl or reservoir divided into a number of closed compartments eachprovided Wit-li an inlet conduit for fluid under pressure and an outletconduit for its liquid contents and liavin means for automaticallypreventing, when one compartment is pierced, the compressed liuid fromcontinuing` to exercise its action in said compartment, each of saidcompartments being connected by its respective outlet conduit With acollector, eacli outlet conduit being pro vided Within said collectorwith means for automatically closing` when tlie pressure in any of saidconduits sinks to a determined extent.

6. A tank or reservoir divided into a num ber of closed compartmentseach provided with an inlet conduit for Huid under pressure and anoutlet conduit for its liquid contents and having means forautomatically preventing, 'when one compartment is pierced thecompressed fluid from continuing to exercise its action in saidcompartment, each of said compartments being connected by its respectiveoutlet conduit with a collector, eacli ot said outlet conduits beingprovided Within said collector with means for automatically closing whenthe pressure in any of said conduits sinks to determined extent, and acompressed fluid distributor provided Witli a baille or equalizingjTdevice for the incoming compressed iluid.

in testimony whereof l have hereunto set my hand in presence of twosubscribing Witnesses.

.RENE CAUDRON. Witnesses JOHN F. SIMoNs, PAUL BLUM.

